About Dana

My dad gave me a beautiful Nikon film camera when I left for college (thanks dad!). Between my studies and the cost of developing film, I almost never used it. But in the spring of 2004, on my way to Nepal, I laid my hands on a digital camera for the first time and discovered a pastime that quickly became a passion.

Maybe it was because, as a former engineer, I loved the way that photography marries creativity and structure. Maybe it was a way for me to do something that's always been difficult: share what's most personal. What I know for sure is that I'm hooked.

Since that day, I've been constantly searching for opportunities to combine photography with every aspect of my life....friendships, family, work, and (of course) travel. It's a privilege to be able to share part of my journey with you. Thanks for taking a look.

Yearly Archives: 2010

This weekend I attended a lighting workshop with Canon speedliter Syl Arena. Actually it was much more a seminar than a workshop in that I took exactly zero pictures. But it was great for reinforcing some of the stuff that I’d picked up about lighting over the past couple of years. My kit doesnt come close to scratching the surface of what Syl carries in his gearbag. Probably never will. But that didn’t stop me from coming home and trying to rig up some relatively elaborate (with my normal lighting scheme as the baseline) setup to get a shot that I had been thinking about since seeing reading Joe McNally’s book The Hot Shoe Diaries. Both Syl and McNally are lighting savants, and if I ever thought either would come within 100 mouseclicks of my blog, I wouldn’t dare attach his name to this attempt in any way. The image didn’t live up to the lofty goals I had for it when it was just in my head. But this is what you get when you have two speedlites with no wireless trigger and have to bounce a pre-flash signal around a corner and down a hallway with the help of reflectors, mirrors, and foamcore. I definitely had it coming.

Last weekend I met Dr. Vanessa Perez. Vanessa is a NYC-based professor of 19th and early 20th Caribbean Literature. The moment she said that my mind started racing to see whether I could come up with some author that might fit into that category. Not even close, so I kept my mouth shut and kept shooting. Vanessa wanted some headshots to gear up for (and maybe include in) her upcoming book: Hispanic Caribbean Literature of Migration: Narratives of Displacement.It turned out to be a glorious day in the park, so I shot way more than a few images. Vanessa was a fantastic subject and was even thoughtful enough to bring bottles of water for the shoot, which would have been a really nice touch for the photographer to have taken care of. Hmm. I can’t say that I learned much about Caribbean Lit, though. Maybe I’ll have to pick up a copy of the book when it debuts later this year. Congratulations, Vanessa. And of course a special shout out to Serene, my very capable assistant, for helping me with lighting, gear, and entertaining the talent.

I was lucky enough to meet and photograph this BEAUTIFUL little girl over the weekend! Leila Louise is clearly adorable and one of the most patient 10-month olds I’ve ever met. Thanks to Lolomi and Dennis for inviting me down to San Jose to capture these images and for being so cool during the shoot. What made this shoot even cooler is that Lolomi is a longtime friend. It’s a real treat to see her building a wonderful family of her own. See you soon, Leila!

I spent the middle part of last week in St. Louis, working and visiting good friends. Oh, and taking pictures. It was 85 glorious, sunshiny, humidity-free degrees for the entire trip. Here are a few from Wednesday’s 2-1 Cardinals victory over the Houston Astros, including an impromptu shoot of Casey done by the light of one bank of fluorescent bulbs underneath Busch Stadium. Good thing John showed up to take us home when he did, because, despite the class and restraint shown in these pics, Casey’s modeling “style” had the Cardinals staff in stitches. I’ve obviously filtered the results to protect the silly (that would be me and Casey).

An young autograph seeker waits patiently above the Cardinals dugout…

Hunter Pence preps for batting practice…and posing, I guess. Jackie (on the right, of course) and her mother, age 90, sit next to the Cardinals dugout and haven’t missed a home game in three seasons. I spoke with them for a few minutes, and they were just fine posing for a picture (or 5). John, the teams Assistant GM, actually knows them, although he doesn’t remember singing happy birthday to Jackie’s mother with the other 46k fans last June. I’m more and more impressed with the Cardinals fans and organization every time I visit.

Fro a second, I thought this dude was Rick Dempsey, former Baltimore Oriole and 1983 World Series MVP. Alas…nope.

David Freese, Cardinals 3rd baseman (Jackie told me who he was), made some kid happy. As Freese walked away, the kid’s dad asked, “Who was that?”